


the new lima loser

by waldorbes



Category: Glee, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, POV Alternating, Post - Deathly Hallows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-20
Updated: 2012-11-19
Packaged: 2017-11-19 02:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waldorbes/pseuds/waldorbes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>hermione comes to lima and become the new librarian. puck likes what he sees, but hermione won't cross any lines.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

If there was one thing that Hermione Granger learned to appreciate about the muggle world, it was the internet. It was a way to keep away from the Wizarding world that she had left, but still keep it within her reach. Every morning she would make sure that no one she truly cared about was in the news for any dreadful reasons and thankfully, none was ever reported.

It had been almost three years since the fall of Voldemort and Hermione had truly grown. She had finished her education, found her parents, and had quite pleasant relationships. Unfortunately, she had lost her friends and now, she was losing her family.

All the years that she had gone to Hogwarts, she knew that she had to bend or twist the truth to keep going. Being an only child made her parents especially protective of her and if they had known half of the dangers surrounding the wizarding world, she wouldn't have attended Hogwarts past her second year.

It was a risk she had to take. Unfortunately, the results were more than she was able to handle. Her parents started treating her differently when she revealed her lies. The same love that had been in their eyes her whole life had disappeared and replaced with ice. She couldn't stand the looks anymore so Hermione started to do the thing that she did best.

Research.

Hermione knew of family that her mother had in America, she simply hadn't seen them since she before she had gone to Hogwarts. After weeks and weeks of correspondence Hermione finally left the letter to her mother and father, and left for America.

Once she apparated over the Pacific Ocean she decided to do things the proper muggle way. She took something called a Greyhound Bus from California to Lima, Ohio. Her second cousin, William Schuester lived there with his wife Terri. Will was supposed to meet Hermione at the Greyhound station and then after a day or two of getting settled, they would discuss her next move. Again, Hermione had done research on the area and learned that a local school was looking for a new librarian.

It wouldn't be the worst job in the world. She could be around books all day, help others, and maybe make some muggle friends with intelligent minds. She wouldn't have to worry about seeing anyone from England ever again. She was too afraid too see anyone ever again. She was afraid of their reactions. Hermione had left the Burrow, where she had been staying since the war had ended, for Australia suddenly without notice to go on her search.

"Hermione!" yelled a tall, curly-haired man, with a beaming smile. Hermione turned on her heel to see Will running towards her. Once he was close enough she dropped her bag off of her shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. Will wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning her around. Once Will set her down, his eyes widened in shock.

"You look so grown up! I haven't seen you in… what?"

"Ten years, Will. You look so different yourself! How's Terri?" The moment that Hermione mentioned the wife that Will had dated for so very long, his face fell.

"I left her, Hermione," he said with a somber expression.

Hermione's expression dropped considerably as did her voice. "What happened?"

Will sighed and dipped down to take a hold of her bag, before slinging it over his shoulder. He looked as if he was finding the best words to explain the situation he had been thrown into.

"Uh," he sighed deeply, "let's get home. You've had a long trip."

Hermione normally pushed for an explanation, but perhaps tonight would different. She was quite exhausted, and she didn't want to push a relative that she hadn't spoken to in over a decade.

It had been a very quite ride back to the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

From the long car ride from the bus station to Will's flat to the very long day of unpacking and rearranging, Hermione could successfully say she felt completely odd. Dinner was extremely awkward. Neither wanted to admit their troubles. It seemed to be a common trait for both sides of Hermione's family. Silverware scratched against plastic plates as the pair of cousins sat in silence.

"I know why you came," Will said suddenly.

_Shit,_ cursed Hermione.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I told my mom you were coming to stay with me, so she took it upon herself to find out exactly what your reasons were." Both curled haired brunettes chuckled awkwardly.

"I'm sorry I never made more of an effort to visit you," Hermione said, her head hanging slightly. Will raised his right hand and shook his head. His left hand wiped the water from his lips that threaten to escape.

"Don't worry, Herms. We never really made much of an effort to visit you either. Besides, with your boarding school, it was hard to drag you away."

Another nervous chuckle passed over the brunettes' lips.

"Yeah, I really liked it there," she admitted. Thinking about Hogwarts made the dull pang in her heart much more intense.

"Anyway," Will started, interrupting Hermione's thinking. "I know that your parents weren't happy that you wanted to run away with that guy and get married. They thought you were too young and that you two didn't know one another long enough. Honestly, I was shocked when I heard it. I didn't think you were the one to get all starry-eyed." Will finished his story and took a long sip of his water. Hermione couldn't believe the story her mother had concocted. It was completely outrageous, but believable to anyone who didn't know Hermione that well. For a brief moment she thought of her ex-boyfriend, Zach Amberlin, the tanned, dark-haired Aussie that had taken her interest for a good six months. The relationship however, was doomed when Zach finally, truly realized that Hermione wasn't willing to get over her ex-boyfriend.

Who knew an insufferable ginger head could effect her so much?

"I got a little carried away, I suppose. I would have moved in with Zach, but, he didn't seem to care as much as he had led on," she said, adding to the web of lies her mother had created.

"Either way, I'm glad you're here." Hermione smiled at Will's appreciation.

"Thanks. Anyway, I hear that there is a position open at a local school. McKinley I think the name is. Have you heard of it?"

Will's face went a glow and he started to chuckle.

"I work there. I'm the Spanish teacher and I am the director for the Glee club. The team is called New Directions. We just won Sectionals, next is Regionals." Will had such a glow on his face as he spoke about New Directions. There was a great pride that he held in his eyes for the students.

"I hope I get to meet them," Hermione said softly.

There was a pause, a tension in the air. Hermione wanted to press Will on the question he hadn't answered the night before. Could she press him?

"Will, what happened between you and Terri?" she asked softly, pushing around the remains of her grilled chicken breast. Once again, Will sighed.

"Did your mom tell you that we were expecting?" Hermione gasped and shook her head. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. After all, he wasn't smiling.

"I don't think our Mums have been in touch for quite a while."

"Right. Yeah, well, she was. We were going to have a boy. And then… I found out…" He was taking a while to answer. Maybe it wasn't right that Hermione had asked. Maybe she shouldn't have pressed him.

Of course, just because she shouldn't have, didn't mean she didn't.

"Will?"

"She had faked the pregnancy. It was a hysterical pregnancy, but she hadn't told me so because she thought she was losing me. I couldn't believe she lied to me!" His anger was boiling in every fiber of his body. Long digits curled around a fork and knife in anger.

"So, I left her, and she packed all her things and moved in with her sister." Hermione nodded slowly and bit her bottom lip.

"Well, from what I remember about her, she wasn't right for you anyway. Far too selfish. Took you for granted. A right wanker." She nodded curtly.

Will couldn't help but break into laughter at her English slang.

"If you get a job at McKinley, the kids are going to love your accent and then probably get confused when you actually speak to them." Hermione burst out laughing and sat back in her chair. As she crossed her arms across her chest, suddenly feeling very content.

Maybe living in America was going to be simpler than she thought.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Jinxing a small evening bag to be bottomless was one thing, but doing it to a duffle bag that was almost the same size as her, now that was another. Yes, Hermione had been able to do it, but the amount of magic it took was exhausting after barely doing any magic for basically two years. Thinking of the similar spells to the one she had used, Hermione wondered what exactly would happen to the remaining objects in the bag if she folded it up to put it away.

"Herms!" yelled Will, from the living room. She could hear him stuffing some of the papers he had been grading from the night before into his bag. "Are you almost ready? I want to show you were Figgins office is!"

Hermione went to the mirror to check her appearance one last time. She was donning a crimson blouse tucked into a thin black, pencil skirt. Her mane of brown curls was pinned back in a high bun, with a few wisps escaping in various places.

It was simple, but then again, Hermione was simple.

"Sorry," she said, walking into the living room. "Do I look okay?" she asked, turning in her spot. Will smiled widely and hugged her tightly. He was still smiling when he pulled away.

"You look fantastic. You look just like a librarian. You're missing a pair of glasses, though," he joked. "Although, if a boy that looks about twenty five, dark skin, a dark Mohawk, and a dangerous smirk tries to take you out to a diner… Run." Hermione laughed, although quickly coughed it back at the sight that Will was completely serious.

"Will, don't worry. I know it's wrong to be with a student, I'll be fine. I'm plenty level-headed myself, you know?"

Will nodded, picking up his shoulder bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "Come on, Herms."

With a confident smile, Hermione grabbed the 'degree' she had created and was on her way. Yes, she felt horrible about falsifying her documentation, but it was all she could do to get the job. Being around Will was something that she knew would help her out an incredible amount.

The pair was quiet the whole time, this time a comfortable silence, until they were inside the school.

"Wow, this is different from my school," Hermione said softly. She turned to Will. "It looks just like a sitcom."

Will laughed. Wrapping his arm around her and rubbing it softly, before a single word changed everything.

"Schuester." The pair turned around and found a woman with short blond hair, a broad body and a tracksuit stood in the middle of the hall. Hermione perked a brow in confusion.

"I see you've finally found someone who can outdue your eighties attempt at a Jerry Curl." Hermione raised a brow.

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione asked in a quite offended tone, even if she wasn't completely sure what a Jerry Curl was.

"And you had to import her as well."

"Sue," Will cut in. "This is my cousin, Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Sue Sylvester. She coaches the cheerleading squad here at McKinley." Will spoke with a sneer, and Hermione was sure that this woman was not to be trusted.

"Charmed. Will, aren't we going to be late?" she asked quickly. He started to pull her along.

"I didn't hear Big Ben toll, however with your mess of curls I wouldn't be shocked if you're storing it inside for the winter," Sue chimed in. Will ignored her and they turned around, walking into Figgin's office. Once introductions were made, Hermione and Figgins began to talk and soon, Hermione was the new librarian of William McKinley High School.

A bell rang and Will looked at his watch. "Shoot," he whispered as Hermione and Will walked out of the Principal's office.

"Hermione, I have a Glee Club meeting. You're welcome to sit in if you'd like? The guidance counselor, Emma sometimes does." The brunette witch smiled, and nodded at the offer.

"I'd love to."


	4. Chapter 4

Walking into the music room, Hermione was almost thrown backwards; she was doused instantly with a very hip-hop version of White Wedding by Billy Idol. Under normal circumstances, the witch would have considered such a thing blasphemous but she had to admire the teenagers for their success at taking an iconic song and make it their own. A smile curled onto the curly-haired witch's face. Teenagers of all shapes, sizes, and colours were dancing around the room, and their voices were marvelous as well. Hermione had barely realized it but as the song continued she was walking farther into the room. As the last note was sung, she spoke up.

"I don't think Idol could have done it better. Brilliant job, all."

The foreign accent had come accent had come as a surprise to the suburban teenagers and they gawked at her slightly in great confusion.

_Who is she?_

_What is she doing here?_

_Is this another one of Mr. Schue's old classmates?_

_I wonder if I could get her in bed?_

That was only a few of the thoughts rolling around the heads of the various Glee club members.

Hermione silently, and briefly wondered just how well they would do on London's famed West End when she suddenly felt an arm snake around her waist. Turning in her spot, Hermione found her cousin at her side.

"Everyone," he started. "This is my cousin, Hermione Granger. She—" Will sighed and pointed to a girl, about Hermione's height with long dark hair and her hand raised.

"Mr. Schuester, is she going to be a repeat of April? Because I know that she was introduced to the Glee Club because of my leaving and last I checked, no one is planning on quitting. Plus," she chuckled softly and turned to Hermione. "I doubt she can sing as well as me." Hermione's brow perked in confusion.

"Bloody hell," she turned to Will, her eyebrow still arched softly. "Was I ever like that?" Will laughed and nodded, looking down at Hermione.

"Yeah, you kinda were."

"If she's another April, that would be hot," said a tall, muscular boy with dark skin and a Mohawk. Hermione arched her brow higher when he gave an African American boy a high five. The blond next to him didn't seem so happy about his hopes that Hermione was another 'April', which caused her to chuckle silently to herself. Hermione was human, she had to laugh at the simple things.

"Guys, Hermione is not another April. She's my cousin from England and she had recently moved here. She is going to start working here as the librarian on Monday." The witch nodded and smiled at everyone. Lifting her hand, she gave a curt wave.

"Hello."

"If you're from England, why are your teeth so nice?" asked a tall blond girl from the corner. Her high, sleek ponytail and red and white uniform suggested that she was a cheerleader for the school. From she had seen on the television and in books that she's read, cheerleaders weren't always the quickest broom in the closet.

"Er, well, both my parents are dentists. I suppose you could say I was born with a silver drill in my mouth." The brunette chuckled lightly and quite slowly as she realized that no one, aside from herself, found her joke humourous.

Clearing her throat, she had a thought. _No wonder I always left the humour to Ron._

"What's your name?" she asked the blond.

"Brittany," she responded with a bright smile.

"You're not one to frequent the library are you?"

Ironically, that comment earned a few chuckles from the Glee Club, and a very nervous one from her cousin. Quickly, Will introduced the rest of the teens and then began to explain the assignment.

"When I found out you were coming, I assigned the kids to find an old school British song and make it their own."

"Well, you certainly did a fine job with White Wedding," Hermione encouraged. The kids thanked her. As the teenagers broke off and started talking amongst themselves, Will pulled the former Gryffindor closer.

"I'm sorry about them comparing you to April. That was a mistake I made a few months ago."

"Don't even worry about it. I'm assuming that 'Mr. Danger' is the one who said he wouldn't mind if I was like her?"

Will chuckled, "yeah, that's Puck."

"He's the one who got the blond pregnant, right?" Will nodded. Turning in her spot, she looked over at Puck.

"Well, you said he wasn't one to frequent the library, I think I'll be fine." Hermione laughed and to herself, broke out in hilarity. If she could handle dealing with the most powerful wizard in the world, she could certainly deal with a hormonal teenage boy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"It's a nice day to start again!" sang the glee club of William McKinley High School. Before they could start congratulating one another on a job well done, a voice came to their ears.

"I don't think Idol could have done it better. Brilliant job, all."

Puck turned around, and as if on instinct, a smirk pulled onto his lips. He found a petite girl with a blood red shirt that left, in his opinion, too much to the imagination (Puck liked to not use his imagination when it came to women), a black pencil skirt that once again, left too much to the imagination, and heels that seemed to make her leg go on for miles.

 _Now she is something I'd like to slip into,_ Puck thought.

Idle conversation prattled on and Puck's concentration came in and out of focus. Finally, people turned around and started to talk among themselves. The only thing that was on his mind however, was that new librarian. Who didn't have a thing for hot librarians?

"Puck," Quinn said, pulling his attention back to her. Turning to his blond, pregnant, girlfriend, he was a little reluctant to do so. Puck really did want to prove to Quinn that he wasn't the Lima Loser she thought he was, but it was becoming incredibly difficult. He was becoming hungry for something new, something exciting. Why couldn't he get a hot older milf pregnant? Then again, if he had, that probably wouldn't have been easier either.

Quinn started blabbering on and on and he could have sworn that he heard Kurt say that she had delicious taste in Jimmy Choo's… Whatever they were. All Puck knew was that Mr. Schue's cousin had something going on, and he wanted to go in every single nook and cranny to figure it out.

Looking over his shoulder once more he took a last look at the now retreating librarian and smirked his infamous smirk. He was definitely going to have to visit the library more often.


	5. Chapter 5

Hazel eyes narrowed in annoyance. Being in Spanish class was becoming really annoying and inconvenient. He couldn't get his head around the fact that Mr. Schue could have such a hot cousin. Her waist, lips, legs, and that accent! It was more than he could bear. In the old days, before Quinn and her upcoming milf status, he would have done everything in his power to have made the new librarian, his naughty librarian. Puck was very protective when it came to the women he wanted in bed. Well… He was until after he had sex with them. Once he had them in bed, he didn't want much else from them.

It was why the milf's were so perfect. They just cared about getting laid and that was it. They never wanted something more, nor did they ever push for it. Plus, they were amazing in bed. High school girls always wanted something more, or judged you for things that you couldn't control. Milfs were different.

The new librarian wasn't a milf (as far as he knew) but she was sure damn fuckable. He was going to have her; he just had to find a reason to go into the library.

Fortunately, school actually came in handy for something. His English teacher assigned the class to go into the library and pick out a book for the book report. This was his opportunity and he was going to take it for all it was worth. If he had his way, he would be over the new librarian in a crappy motel room by the end of the night.

After asking Artie a lot of questions, Puck finally found the library. Walking inside, his dark irises scanned the room, dipping between rows of books in an effort to find the brunette woman.

Finally, her wild curls were found and his smirk pulled across his face. Walking towards her, he pulled a random book from wherever he could find it. He didn't care that it had originally been in an unknowns hands. He wanted this to work.

Leaning against the bookshelf next to her, he grinned and began smacking his gum.

"So," he started. "What do you think of this book for a report?" Puck held up the book, but went bug-eyed when it wasn't in his hand. How was that possible? It was in his hand two seconds ago! Looking on the floor, he quickly determined that he hadn't dropped it.

"I wouldn't know." Puck turned back to look at the librarian. He noticed a smirk on her lips and couldn't help but find it… Well, he wasn't sure what he found it. He knew it wasn't just hot it was something else. Something he couldn't explain.

"I've never read an invisible book before," she said to him with the most innocent smile before pushing her cart along.

"What the f—" he started, before chasing after her, pulling a different book off of the cart and hopped in front of her, shoving it at her.

"What about this one?" She seemed flustered, which was exactly what he wanted. Stopping the cart, she took it from him and looked the book over. Shrugging, she handed it back to him.

"I was never one for American writers. I'm more partial to Dickens and Wells myself." The brunette paused and started to rummage through the books on the moving cart. Her lips pursed forward slightly and her eyes narrowed in concentration. His brow perked as he kept staring at her features and how they moved. It wasn't like him to want to stare at a girl like that.

Quickly, Puck shook it off, just in time for Hermione to stand and put her hands on her hips.

"Follow me," she said. Puck couldn't help it; he followed the petite brunette to wherever she was going. Every now and again, of course, his eyes magically found their way to her rear and lingered there for a moment or two. Who wouldn't? Unfortunately, for Puck, he wasn't completely paying attention to what was going on around him, and when Hermione stopped in front of the shelf she was looking for, he walked right into Hermione.

"Omf!" he said softly. Hermione tripped slightly, but caught herself, despite the heels she had been wearing. Hermione turned on her heel and faced Puck, her hands balling up and placing themselves on her hips. A dark brow perked at him.

"Looking at my arse while walking isn't the brightest thing to do," she whispered to him before turning back around and picking a book from the shelf. Puck stood there, astonished that she had spoken to him that way, or that she had even spoken that way at all. To him, it was… Sexy.

"You're in what grade, again?" she asked the books.

"I'm a junior," Puck answered suddenly, snapping out of the slight shocked phase that he was in. Hermione turned with a raised brow, indicating her confusion in his words. "11th grade." She nodded and turned to hand him a book.

"I looked up the curriculum for the district and 11th graders are reading British literature. This should work." Taking the book from the brunette he turned it over in his hands. He looked up at her with more confusion than she had looked at him.

"John Webster?" Hermione nodded.

"The White Devil is a play he wrote. I think you'll enjoy it for the book report. That is if you actually read it."

"What's it about?"

"In purity? Revenge." Hermione was simple in her explanation and turned back around to continue working. Puck turned on his heel and began to walk away, confused on where he went wrong in his wooing of the new librarian, but he wouldn't be swayed away from his mission.

Little did Puck know, as he was walking away, Hermione had turned around, just to get one last glimpse of him. Something about him just stuck in her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Pale digits tapped against the strong binding of a thick green book as the holder tried to find the exact place it belonged. Finally, the book was placed where it belonged. Dark eyes flipped over to the generic white and black clock to find that it was three thirty in the afternoon. Will had been driving Hermione back and forth to and from school until she could get her Green Card and get her own license and had told her to meet him back at the music room at three forty five. Apparently he was going to be working on the next assignment in there.

Hermione had decided that as one of her first duties as the librarian, she was going to completely reorganize the library according to the Dewey Decimal System, since the previous librarian hadn't been keeping up with such a method. Yes, the job could have been done within a matter of minutes had she pulled out her wand and said a couple of relocation spells, but she had to keep the magic to a minimum. That kind of job would take a good load of magic and she didn't want anyone locating her by her overuse of magic, especially in a place that is so consumed by muggles.

Throwing her dark satchel bag over her shoulder, Hermione tapped it a couple of times with her short fingernails.

_If they tracked me anywhere, they should still be searching Australia. They don't know about Will, and my mum wouldn't tell them where I am if they found my parents. Would she? No, that's prosperous. They don't even care too much that I'm their daughter, why would they lead my friends in the right direction to find me?_

The brunette threw her thoughts away and walked out of the library, locking it, the muggle way, as she left. Walking down the quiet halls of McKinley High School, she began to relive her day to herself. She chuckled when she got to the visit from Puck. She had seen the muscular male take the book from the student who had been studying and did the quick spell to put the book back into the proper owners hands. Watching the reaction was something of pure brilliance.

Hanging around Fred and George for so long had definitely rubbed off slightly on her.

As she starting to think of Fred and George a sinking feeling came over her. She began to think of the world and the friends she left behind when she left to go find her parents in Australia. Running away was normally not in her character, but she had reason for doing what she did. She knew that Ron and Harry would follow her and accompany her, but she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't return. What if she never found her parents? How would Molly react to her son and his two best friends (who had become her own themselves) were gone forever? What would happen if something happened to them along the way? Sure, they hadn't been fighting a war anymore but there was always the fluke accident to worry about.

No. She certainly couldn't let them come along with her, no matter how much she had wished them to have come along. So, she ran away with just a letter to the Weasley's and Harry on what she was doing and instructions to not try and find her. Of course she added her love, especially to a certain specific Weasley. Hermione's heart ached more and more as she walked, but was soon interrupted by a very unexpected source. A boy and a girl singing… Beautifully.

_It was a wicked and wild wind_

_Blew down the doors to let me in_

_Shattered windows and the sound of drums_

_People couldn't believe what I'd become_

_Revolutionaries wait_

_For my head on a silver plate_

_Just a puppet on a lonely string_

_Oh who would ever want to be king?_

Hermione couldn't be sure who had been sung the song, but it still brought her in to examine what was happening. The sound pulled her into the auditorium and she stood there for a long moment, watching the performance. The brunette recognized the pair was Puck and Rachel.

"You're a little flat on the D cord in the second verse, but over all, you did well, Noah," Rachel said, which seemed to only irritate Puck.

"I'll tell you where you can shove that D cord," he said, through gritted teeth. Hermione walked closer to them, sensing the tension growing thicker with each passing second.

"I think you were both wonderful," she offered. The attention was suddenly on Hermione and she felt that she wasn't supposed to be there, although that didn't stop her from staying rooted in her spot.

"Er," she started, walking onto the stage and getting on the same plane as the others. "I know this isn't any of my business, but, is there something else behind the slightly flat D chord?" Normally, Hermione wouldn't have asked if there wasn't something that needed to be asked or said. Based on the hard expressions on both the teenagers faces, something wasn't right.

"She's banging the enemy!" Puck said suddenly. The brown brow perked suddenly and looked to the side for a moment.

_Merlin, that sounds familiar._

Hermione shifted her attention back to the pair in front of her just in time to hear Rachel's defense.

"Jesse is not the enemy! He came to be in school here just so that him and I could be together and that people wouldn't think that he is trying to sabotage us."

"Yeah, okay. Like he wouldn't sell you out for another national title."

"He wouldn't!"

"Kids!" Now that was something odd for Hermione to say. "Just because Jesse is from another school, I don't believe that could completely make him the enemy."

Rachel's lips pulled themselves into a wide, satisfied smile.

"However," Hermione started, which was followed by Rachel's smile to fall.

"I can see where Mr. Puckerman and the rest of your team are coming from. He's a threat. And no one wants to be around a threat." Rachel didn't seem to like what Hermione had to say. She huffed and walked swiftly out of the auditorium. Silently, the librarian and student watched.

"Merlin, her and I are far too alike," she whispered under her breath.

"Merlin?" asked Puck. Dark eyes went wide in fear and turned around to give a plausible explanation.

"It was a thing between my friends and I. We didn't want to fit in, so we said different things." Puck didn't seem too convinced with his brow perked.

"And you are like Rachel?" Puck didn't want to believe that the hot new librarian was like the annoying ex-fling he had.

"When I was younger, I can see a lot of similarities." Puck nodded slowly. They were each seeing a side of the other that they probably shouldn't have but that didn't change that it was happening.

"Have you started reading the book I had you check out?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her body. Puck was in slight shock. He wasn't used to someone whom he barely knew, and wasn't family, care so much as to follow up with him, especially not a teacher kind of figure. He nodded.

"Yeah," he lied, which earned a lofted brow from Hermione.

"Are you lying?"

Something in the back of his head was pushing him to tell her the truth. He couldn't understand what it was. Hermione, on the other hand, was starting to get a little nervous. She had read about a deviant of the Impervius curse and was silently using it on Puck. She wanted, no, she craved the truth out of this young man. The young witch couldn't exactly pin point why, but the urge was there. She wasn't going to fight it. She only had to worry that the amount of magic she was using, couldn't be used to find her.

"Yes," Puck said finally, in disbelief that he had told the truth.

"Read it, you'll enjoy it. I promise," she offered him a soft smile before turning around on her heel and heading back on her way to Will's office. As she walked, she started to seriously think and fall into deep thought.

Hermione wasn't seventeen anymore, and Puck, although he looked it, wasn't twenty-four. Both could feel something in the space they shared made things feel different for the pair, but they wouldn't admit it. Hermione didn't understand why she felt so strangely comfortable around someone who was basically a student of hers, and Puck didn't understand why he wanted to spill all his secrets to the new librarian.

It was something that neither could explain about the other, and something they didn't really want to understand.

It was too dangerous to understand.


	7. Chapter 7

_"Hermione! I can't believe we found you!" Harry yelled in happiness as he wrapped his arms around his lost friend. Harry let go of the girl, only to have Ginny replace him, squeezing tighter. Hermione, however, wasn't too happy to see two people that she hasn't seen in almost three years. She was standing there, terrified. Harry and Ginny were looking at her with bright smiles, but she couldn't help but wonder where one familiar face was. She could only think about him. She wanted to ask about him so badly, but should she? It could get ugly if she did._

_"Where's Ron?" she whispered, softly. Hermione was worried that something happened to him, that he disappeared somehow. However, Harry and Ginny were still smiling. The pair parted to reveal a sheepish Ron, standing behind them, hands buried deep within his pockets. A smile crept onto her face and they both just stood there._

_"Hi," she said softly._

_"Hi," he responded. They stood there together for what seemed like ages._

_"You left," Ron finally said. "Why?"_

_"I had to find my parents."_

_"Without us?" Harry asked._

_"I didn't know how long it would take," Hermione said in defense of her actions._

_"Do you really think we would have cared?" Ginny asked. The whole crowd was turning angry with her. It had become one of her fears since she left the United Kingdom._

_"I wasn't sure if I ever would have been coming back. I didn't want your mum to have to deal with losing you lot, especially after Fred…"_

_Anger welled up in all three faces, the Weasley faces turning especially crimson. Ron's hands balled into tight fists, his knuckles turning a ghostly white. Before Hermione knew it a hands came swinging across her face, hard. Her face felt hot and the outline of the petite ginger girls hand was becoming etched in her pale skin._

Hermione awoke with a start, her breathing quick and shallow. Slowly, she sat up and felt the pool of sweat beneath her. It was the first time, in a long time, that Hermione had had that particular dream. Pushing curly locks back, she took a deep breath and pushed the covers off of herself and walked into the nearby bathroom. The former Gryffindor splashed cool water onto her face, cooling herself and then looked at her reflection. She was paler than normal, just as she always looked after one of her dreams.

She looked at the door when the bell rang, and sighed, walking over to it. Looking through the peephole she found a very drunk looking blond, sloshing around in front of the door. Hermione opened the door and raised a dark eyebrow.

"Hello?" she asked. The blond giggled and pointed at her. Her expression quickly turned confused.

"Who are you?" she asked. The woman was shorter than Hermione, had a squeaky voice, and was thinner than she had ever seen. She looked like skin and bones.

"Hermione. Who are you?" Hermione responded. The blond, whom she didn't know as April Rhondes, walked into the apartment, well, more stumbled into the apartment and started yelling nonsense things. She couldn't truly understand what she was saying, but it was all coming out as nonsense.

Hermione panicked.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled, turning April into a frozen statue of what she was. Unfortunately, she was standing in such a position when she was frozen in place that she was unbalanced and was starting to fall over. Again, Hermione panicked.

"Accio cushion!" she yelled, a cushion from the couch flying into her hands, which she promptly put under April to break her fall. Sure, Hermione would have been able to heal anything, but the less she had to do, the safer.

When April was safely on the floor, Hermione turned over the blond and started to examine her.

"Please don't have anything broken. Please don't have anything broken." Hermione started chanting this softly, biting her bottom lip in fear.

"Hermione?" asked Will from behind in confusion. She shot up quickly, and looked at her cousin, afraid.

"Will, you're up. How long have you been standing there?"

"I heard voices. Screaming. Wh-what happened to April?" he asked, walking over to her.

"I-I-I, she's fine. I swear. I just…"

"What did you do?" Will asked, turning to Hermione. Hermione sighed, and put her face in her hand, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion.

"Bloody hell…" she dropped her hand and looked at Will. She had to tell him the truth, and she had to do it now.

"I put a body binding spell on her. I-I-I made her rigid. She's still alive, and she can still hear and see everything, she just can't move in any way possible."

"Spell? Hermione," Will chuckled nervously, "magic isn't real." Hermione returned the nervous chuckle.

"Believe me, Will. I thought the same thing when I was eleven. I was wrong. It's real, and… I'm a witch."

"Prove it!" Will yelled out of desperation.

"I think I just did!" she said, pointing to a still frozen, April. "Look, Will, I can't do too much magic. I can't risk that I'll be found." Will looked confused and seemed to be having a hard time misunderstanding what she was saying.

"Found? What are you talking about? Are you in the Magical Witness Protection Agency or something?" Hermione rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Help me get her to the couch. I need to do a memory charm and a couple other things on her. Then I'll explain." Will listened and helped his cousin bring the blond to the couch, watching her get a wand and muttered some strange things in Latin. Exhaling in exhaustion, she sat back in the chair and looked at Will.

"I'm knackered," she whispered. Will, however, didn't seem to hear her.

"What's going on, Hermione?"

She sighed, and began her story. "My parents weren't mad that I was going to run away with Zach. I never was. We broke up because I wo— couldn't seem to get over my ex."

"So why did you leave?"

"It's a very long story," she began, raising her eyes to meet his. Will looked at the clock, saw it was one in the morning, and sighed, rubbing his face before turning to his cousin.

"We have time. Explain, everything." Hermione nodded, and began telling him the entire story from when she got her letter from Hogwarts, up until the true reason she left Australia. She had finally told her parents the real reason as to how they got to Australia, and told them everything that had transpired while she had been at Hogwarts. Once she was finished her fear of what she had done in front of two muggles starting to creep into her psyche.

"I'll probably get a letter from the Ministry of Magic saying that I need to appear before a court of my peers. Maybe I can write a letter. Tell them that one of the muggles was my cousin and another now has an altered memory… If they don't already know…" Hermione began to ramble to herself but Will needed to cut in.

"Muggles?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Oh, a non magical person. Because there are muggleborn witches and wizards, like myself, they allow our parents and siblings to know of our powers, although, I don't know if they'll allow me to let you go on knowing. They let me friend's cousin know, but only because he lived with him. Maybe I'll be able to explain the special circumstances properly and everything will be fine." In the very depths of her mind, Hermione kept with her worried rambling when a tapping on the window stopped her. The two curly haired people turned to find a tawny owl perched outside the window.

"What the-?" Will asked as he started to head to the window to shoo off the bird. Hermione stopped him.

"Don't. It's the way the Ministry sends letters." She stood and walked over to the window, taking the letter from the owl and then watching it go on its way.

"The Ministry has gotten quicker with letters."

"What does it say?" Will asked, out of concern.

"Exactly what I thought it would. I'll write the letter in the morning, before breakfast. Right now, you and I both need sleep." Patting Will on his shoulder, the pair passed a snoring April and started to head back to the bedrooms.

"And tomorrow you're explaining her," she added, pointing towards April.

**MEANWHILE**

12:07 flashed in big, red numbers on Puck's nightstand. Under normal circumstances, if he was up this late, he would be playing Halo or doing other things that he would only do if his mom and sister weren't awake and he hadn't gotten laid in a while. However, this night, he was doing something completely different. He was reading. Not only was he reading, but he was reading the play the librarian made him take out of the library. He couldn't understand what made him want to listen to her, but there was something about her. There was a sort of quiet authority that, to him, she would have had whether she was the librarian or not.

Puck wasn't one to read, at all, but he couldn't put the book down. It fascinated him in a way that nothing else ever had. It was all about revenge, murder, betrayal, sex. It was like reading the script to a new Tarantino movie.

As the tan male read the last line, he stared at the book in shock. He loved the book and never expected to in a million years. Climbing out of his bed quickly, he turned on his computer and started furiously typing. For once in Noah Puckerman's life, he was going to do an assignment over three weeks before it was due.

Thoughts swirled around his mind quickly, almost all of them relating to the story… Except for one.

_Why the hell can't I stop thinking of that damn librarian?_

**ONE MONTH LATER**

One month had gone by seemingly uneventful for Hermione. She had settled into her new job as the librarian of McKinley High, the Ministry of Magic had allowed Will to keep the knowledge of her world, April had just based the lost time on a black out from alcohol, and Ron, Harry, and Ginny didn't find her. It was a good month in her opinion. The curly-haired beauty had spent her off time saving her money, looking for a new apartment to rent, reading (which wasn't a real surprise), and watching the Glee club rehearse from a distance. It was easier, and felt safer, to watch from a distance.

And so, her life had found a certain monotony that she was truly starting to enjoy. Could it be that after so many years of silently wishing for a normal life, it was finally happening? If this was all it took, Hermione would have moved in with Will ages ago.

That was until she saw an A+ paper appear before her eyes. Looking up, an eyebrow was lifted in confusion, looking at Puck and his smug smile.

"Did you steal someone else's paper, Mr. Puckerman?" she asked at an appropriate volume for a library. Puck shook his head.

"Nope. I actually read the play you made me take out, I did my work, and I got an A. A+ actually." Puck still had a smug look upon him. However, he was proud of himself, and that's how he looked when he was smug.

"Well done," Hermione said, dropping her head slightly, a smirk of her own creeping onto her lips. She knew that if someone applied themselves, they could get good grades. Puck was just further proof. However, unknowingly he did it, Puck leaned in close to Hermione's face and spoke softly. Of course, before doing so, he made sure that no one was looking.

"I wanted to say thank you though. It's the first A I've gotten since first grade." Hermione looked up to find Puck so close to her face and gasped softly in shock. Puck smirked softly at her reaction before continuing. "My mom is really proud, and that's something I could have used recently."

Hermione smiled and pulled away from him slightly, lowering her eyes to go back to the work she had been doing. "I'm happy for you. Keep it up and you might just get another one."

The smile that came onto his face was truly sincere, which was a first for him in quite a while.

"Next time I have a book report, I'm coming here. And you should make yourself known at Glee rehearsals. I mean, I already caught you, might as well be visible." Hermione looked up at him in shock. How had he known she was there?

"How—" Puck chuckled.

"I've seen you in the shadows. Before I was a part of Glee, I would stand in those exact places and watch; just to see what was so great about it." She chuckled at that and shook her head, letting it fall once more.

"I'll think about it."

"Well, don't waste all your time here. You'll turn into an old hag before you even turn thirty." Her dark eyes looked up at the tanned boy as she smirked at him.

"I told you, I'll think about it."


	8. Chapter 8

Time seemed to be dragging on, but time always seemed to do that when Puck actually sat down to do his homework. He had been doing such a thing since he had gotten the A+ paper thanks to the encouragement of the new librarian, Ms. Granger. Unfortunately, when he was doing his work, she always frequented his mind. It was incredibly distracting when it came to his daydreams about the librarian. While doing his math work, he starting having another one where he had her pinned against a shelf full of books and she was gasping his name.

"Noah?" asked a voice. Snapping out of his daydream, he silently thanked God that he was wearing loose pants and looked up to find his mother standing in front of him.

"Hey, Ma." Having his daydream interrupted by his mom really was a turn off, and he did his best to return to his work. He had glimpsed at her and something about her stance told him that it wasn't good news for him. She was going to start asking him questions, and he hated when she asked questions.

"Noah, how is that Rachel girl you used to date? Do you still talk to her?" Puck raised a brow at the question of Rachel and shrugged.

"I don't know, I guess she's fine. She's dating a kid named Jesse. He's a dickwad."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, when you dated her, you changed. You started doing your work and became very… Happy. Based on the A+ hanging on the fridge." Yes, his mother hung his paper on the fridge, and he wasn't ashamed of it at all. He just wasn't willing to tell anyone on the football team.

"I thought you two were dating again. You know, she is a very nice Jewish girl." Puck rolled his eyes when the religion he and Rachel shared came up. One of the few things that Shira Puckerman wanted for her son was to marry a nice Jewish girl and continue the family name and the family religion. She just had to convince her son to find the right girl that she approved of.

That was the difficult part.

Puck dropped his eyes back to the math book in front of him and sighed out of frustration.

"There's no one, Ma." Between the frustration of the work he was doing and the pushing of religion by his mother, the numbers on the page were being more and more frustrating.

"Oh, Noah," Shira said, sighing, as she went to sit next to her son, an arm wrapping around his broad frame.

"Please, be a mench and come to Temple with me this Saturday. Rabbi Horowitz has been asking about you. He said his niece is single." Shira gave her son a smile and a wink, which Puck responded to in a manner that neither really wanted.

"Mom!" he yelled, flinging his mother's arms off of him. "I don't want to get set up." Quickly, he tossed his books into a bag and grabbed his keys. He didn't say another word as he left his house and started to drive towards somewhere that he didn't expect to want to go; Mr. Schuester's apartment. Finn had told Puck about how helpful the teacher had been when he first heard about Quinn's pregnancy, and how much of a father figure he had become. With his dad out of the picture, he could definitely use someone there. He would just leave out the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about the man's cousin. That would certainly make the conversation awkward.

Finally pulling up to the large apartment building, Puck sighed deeply. He watched the building for a moment before pulling himself out of his 2002 gold Honda Accord, slamming the door shut.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he whispered under his breath. Puck was not one to ask for help and he certainly wasn't one to ask for help from another man. That was an insane thought for him. He had grown up without a father and he always believed that he didn't need a guy in his life to help him out. Maybe there were certain things that he did need a father figure in his life for.

Walking up to the apartment door another sigh escaped his lips. He didn't want to do this. Bringing his fist up, he knocked lightly on the door, waiting for an answer. When the door finally was answered, he was shocked by who answered it.

"Mr. Puckerman?" Hermione asked, shocked that he was there.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him. His breath caught in his throat as his eyes quickly took her image in. It wasn't obviously sexy, but to him, it was perfect. She wore light purple sleep pants and a t-shirt that hugged her upper body in a subtle way while her wild mess of curls was pulled back by a clip. She always had her hair back. At that moment, he decided that he'd do anything to see it down and wild.

That wasn't the point at the moment however. Shaking his head of various thoughts that had engulfed his mind, he finally found words he could put into a proper structure to form a somewhat understandable sentence.

"My mom and I. We fought. Um, I gotta do homework." All right, so it wasn't too understandable. One of Hermione's brows perked in curiosity, before she looked to his side and saw the messenger bag. A smile came across her lips as she backed away from the doorway to allow him entry.

"Come in. Will is out on a date and I'm quite as a church mouse. You'll be able to concentrate." Puck smiled at her. This sort of smile however, wasn't smug in the slightest. It was kind, thankful.

"Thank you," he said softly, ducking his head as he entered the small, two-bedroom apartment. Puck moved into the dining room and started to spread out his things as Hermione went back to the living room. Looking over his shoulder, Puck took a glance as to what Hermione could possibly be doing.

"I don't hear your pencil moving, Mr. Puckerman," Hermione said in a tone that was quite smug. It was something that he hadn't expected from her. With a brow lifted, Puck turned back to his book and looked down. After a moment, a moment of brilliance came to him, causing him to turn back in the chair, leaning back leisurely as he did.

"How do you know it isn't reading homework?" he asked, a dark brow lofted cockily in the air. She turned around to meet his smirk with one of her own.

"I saw your math textbook in your hand when you came in. And I overheard Mrs. Afifi speak about giving all of her classes homework this evening." Puck's face dropped at her, and her verbally pinning him into a corner. Slowly, Hermione turned back to her book, a smug look clear on her face, leaving Puck there to gawk in shock and amazement.

"Now, turn around and do your work. You won't like it if I have to come over there and make you," she warned, to which Puck scoffed and turned back in his seat. For a couple of seconds, he thought about pushing her buttons, seeing what she's made of, but he decided against it. She might have been a sort of teacher, but they weren't in school at that moment and that meant that she wasn't bound by rules to be nice. Anything could happen, and his dirty mind was only starting to work him into a frenzy that he was going to have a very hard time to get out of. A very hard time.

To try and forget about her, he looked down at his textbook, laying his head on it as his hand moved across the paper, pretending to write the correct answers. What was it really writing? He couldn't be too sure. He was very sure about one thing. He was drifting off into a perfect dream world, complete with a very naughty librarian.

"Noah," a soft voice said as a light hand shook his shoulder, shaking him from his very pleasant dream. He had Hermione pinned against the shelves and she was softly moaning his name.

"Noah," repeated the soft voice and shook his shoulder lightly. Puck groaned at the use of his real name. He knew he couldn't be asleep at Rachel's house, so there were only two other people that it could be trying to wake him. It didn't sound like his sister or his mother, but knowing his mother, she would be playing nice at this point.

"Ma, go away," he groaned, his had flying back to swat his mother away.

"I'm not your mother," the voice said, and soon, he remembered right where he was and what had happened. The fight with his mom, the verbal jabbing back and forth with Hermione, his math homework, everything. Quickly, he jerked upward, and back, causing the chair that had been sitting beneath him to fall back and clatter, along with Hermione jumping back in surprise. They both screamed and were having a hard time catching their breaths. A beat passed.

"Er, Mr. Puckerman," Hermione said softly, pointing to his lower region. A dark brow arched in question before he looked down and all but screamed again, quickly grabbing his textbook to cover his quite visible erection.

 _Those damn dreams really got to me. I need to get laid,_ he thought to himself, not daring to look at the object of his dreams.

No one dared say anything for a long time. Finally, Hermione had the courage to say something.

"I was trying to wake you because your mother called, a couple times."

"Shit," Puck hissed. Walking back to the table to picked up his phone and looked at the three missed calls he had received while he had been off in a hot and steamy library.

"I'm sorry I didn't answer. I wasn't entirely sure how." Puck turned and gave Hermione a confused look. Who didn't know how to answer a cell phone?

"I'm not one for technology," Hermione answered to his questioning eyes, with a shrug. He nodded slowly and went to listen to the very angry voice mail.

_"NOAH ELIJAH PUCKERMAN. HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN THAT FASHION, LEAVE WITHOUT A WORD, AND THEN PROCEED TO NOT ANSWER MY PHONE CALLS. DO NOT EVEN DARE TO WALK THROUGH MY FRONT DOOR UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO THROUGHLY APOLOGIZE. IF I FIND YOU IN THIS HOUSE TOMORROW MORNING, YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THE END OF JUNIOR YEAR. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"_

His mother was deathly serious about what she had said. Whenever Shira spoke properly, used no contractions and annunciated every word, there was no messing with her. That much was sure. Slowly, Puck closed his phone and licked his lips a bit. Sighing, his eyes started to roam the floor wildly as he was trying to think of a place he could stay for at least tonight.

"Noah?" Hermione asked, breaking him out of his thought process. "Is everything okay?"

Puck should have snapped at her. He wanted to snap at her. Yet, there was a voice in his head that wouldn't allow him to, something that told him to trust her with the truth. It told him that she wouldn't judge him or think any less of him in any way. Pressing the cell phone against his forehead, he turned to her and decided that it was easier to just blurt it out.

"My mom kicked me out temporarily."

Hermione sighed softly, biting her bottom lip and then nodded.

"Go sit, finish your homework. Will should be home soon." Puck was extremely confused. Slowly, it dawned on him.

"Please don't ask him if I can stay here," he half begged, walking over to her but Hermione held her hand up, stopping him in his tracks.

"Too late. I'm going to. Now back at the table and finish your homework. If I have to, I'll ask Mrs. Afifi if you handed it in or not. Now go," she said sternly and pointed back towards the table. At that moment, Puck was wondering why she cared so much about what happened to him but then he remembered those teachers in the movies that they care about all the kids in their class equally. Maybe it's because he's a Glee kid and her cousin is the Glee Choir instructor, so she pays special attention to them? Maybe it was just in her nature to care? Although, the tanned boy had to admit, even if it was to him, that he was happy someone cared. It never really seemed like anyone cared for him and the fact that she did, was uplifting.

It didn't take long for Mr. Schu to get back from his date, strangely just like Hermione had said. He was shocked that Puck was in his dining room but Hermione soon took him to the side and spoke with him in hushed voices. Puck tried hard to pretend that he wasn't listening, but he was never good at acting. Except when it came to girls and telling them what they wanted to hear.

He was a football player, player and a singer. Certainly not an actor.

Finally, after what seemed to feel like hours, Mr. Schuester came over and with his hands buried deep in his pockets. His black dress slacks and white dress shirt were wrinkled as if he had just been taken away from a very heated scuffle. This caused Puck to smirk slightly. Quickly, the expression faded from his face as Will sighed. He extended his hand towards Puck.

"Can I have your phone? I'd like to talk to your mother. I think she should know where you're staying. Mothers do worry," he said, as Puck handed over his phone. With phone in hand, Will went into the next room, leaving Hermione and Puck in the room together.

"Will agreed to let you stay the night and he's hoping that talking to your mum will convince her to let you come home tomorrow," she explained briefly before headed over to the hall closet, with Puck on her tail.

"What if I don't want to go home?" he asked. Hermione barely looked over her shoulder at the young man, shaking her head at his lunacy.

"That's bonkers. Why wouldn't you want to go home?"

"Bonkers?" he asked quickly, shaking his head and returning to her question. "Because my mom won't shut up and wants to marry me off already. I'm only sixteen!" he yelled, his arms folding across his chest.

With a thick quilt and a large pillow pressed against her chest she turned around, and looked up at him. Puck towered at least half a foot above Hermione but that was far from intimidating to her.

"Are you Jewish?" she asked, after staring at Puck for a few moments, only to receive a very confused nod.

"How did you know?"

"A bloke I went to school with, Anthony Goldstein, he told me how his mum was and she sounds exactly like yours. High strung, wanting you married off at a young age. And to a nice Jewish girl as well, I bet?" Hermione was smug, and man did it look like she enjoyed it.

Puck chose against fighting her and just go along with the conversation. A deep sigh left his body as he put his weight against the wall, crossing his arms across his broad chest once more. Hermione moved past him, towards the couch as he began speaking again.

"She wants me to go back to dating Rachel Berry, or to date a Rabbi's daughter or some shit."

"Aren't you dating a Quinn girl?" Hermione asked, raising a dark brow.

"We're not official. She's carrying my baby and I care about her, it's just… I'm really not one for being tied down," Puck said with a chuckle and a small shrug of his shoulders. Hermione wasn't looking at him but still let her eyes roll around inside her head. She couldn't believe that there were so many men like him in the world, having encountered one too many herself. Then she had to remember that Puck was still in school and when a boy is in school, he obviously doesn't care too much for being loyal or even looking at his future.

"Does your Mum know?" she asked, turning back to him and sitting on the newly converted couch/bed.

"That Quinn is having my baby? No. Not yet. I think she'd have my head if she did. Especially since she isn't Jewish." Hermione nodded slowly before standing and looking at the young man.

"Well, you might as well get some sleep. You have school tomorrow and I'm assuming you finished your work?" Puck sighed, annoyed, and returned to the table to finish his work. He couldn't understand it at all. This woman... She had some sort of power over him. He _wanted_ to do what she asked him to do, even though she didn't ask him for a single sexual favor. He _wanted_ to not disappoint her. Was it because more than anything he wanted to get in her pants? Probably, but he also felt something more. He felt... Like... Well, he felt for her like he did for Quinn. Or did he? No. There was no way he could feel that way for the _librarian_.

No. He just wanted to screw her, and that's that.

He couldn't love her. He loved Quinn. Right?

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Hermione let out a deep sigh as she fell into a chair at the dining table, soon accompanied by Will.

"How'd it go?" she asked. Will closed the phone and slid it over towards Puck's books that had been placed in a neat pile in the corner, by Hermione.

"She's very upset at the way he treated her apparently. She won't let him come home tonight but most likely he would be allowed home tomorrow. I guess I caught her at a time that she was calm enough."

Hermione nodded at this. It made sense, sort of.

"He is really something, isn't he?" she asked, looking over her shoulder to the softly snoring Puck. Will looked over her shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah, that's one way to put it."

They were silent for a long time before a soft tapping interrupted their thoughts. Hermione jumped out of her seat and over to the small window in Will's kitchen, opening it and releasing just whose owl it was. Her face turned a ghost white as the small animal stuck it's leg out for her to take the letter.

"Hedwig, how did you find me?" she asked in a harsh whisper. The small animal simply squawked in response and shook her leg at Hermione again.

"Hedwig?" Will asked, as Hermione quickly took the letter to calm the bird. Ignoring Will, she rushed around the small kitchen getting a sugar cookie and giving it to the owl. Holding the letter in her hand, she looked at the messy handwriting, trembling the whole time.

It was a letter from Ron.

"Who is it from?" Will asked.

"My ex-boyfriend," she answered in a barely heard whisper.

"Are you going to open it?" Will asked as the silence between them grew longer and longer. The next silence however, didn't last long.

"No," answered the brunette sternly. Going over to the waste bin, she dropped the letter inside and shooed Hedwig away before heading out of the room.

"I'm going to bed, Will. Goodnight." A door closing and Will standing in the middle of the kitchen, extremely confused, followed her words.

He waited. Once he was sure that Hermione had gone to sleep for the evening, he did something he was sure he would regret doing. He went over to the garbage and pulled the letter from the mass of leftover lasagna. He made a noise of disgust and looked over the aged envelope. The only thing it said on the front was _Hermione Granger_ and then an address of _Wherever you are_. He felt more and more confused as he looked over the letter.

He turned it over in his hands, readying himself to open it, before he decided that it wasn't right (and against the law) to open the letter. Even if it was magical, he wasn't going to open his cousins mail. Maybe one day soon he could get Hermione to open up about what happened between her and her ex, but that was not the night. So, he returned the letter to its saucy grave and went off to bed.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Hermione lay awake in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling. However, it wasn't the ceiling that she saw, it was her name written in Ron's handwriting. The curiosity of what the redheaded male had written her was eating away at her insides and she knew she'd get no rest if she didn't go and read it. Groaning at her inability to resist, she threw the covers back from herself and tiptoed through the dark apartment to the kitchen. As she moved past the living room she did her best to stay extra quiet. She knew how heavily of a sleeper Will was, but was unaware of Puck's ability to stay asleep and with her own personal ban on magic since the "April Incident" she wasn't about to use a silencing spell to read a bloody letter.

Turning on the single hanging light in the kitchen, she retrieved the letter from the rubbish and sat at the small two-person table, staring at the letter once more.

 _You're Hermione Bloody Granger for heaven sakes! You fought countless evil witches and wizards and lived and you're afraid of a letter!_ yelled a voice, deep inside her head.

 _I'd take a one on one with Voldermort any day if it meant not opening this letter,_ she responded.

 _You're a Gryffindor and the Brightest Witch of the Age! Open it!_ the voice urged. A cold sweat started to bead up beneath her mass of curls, turning her hair kinkier as time past. Finally, she resolved to compare it to ripping off a band-aid. She just had to get it over with. Ripping the parchment open, she unrolled the letter and took a deep breath, filled with courage, before letting her eyes take in the words on the page.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Where are you? Harry, Ginny and I have been searching ages for you._

_They're beginning to give up hope, saying that if you had wanted to be found by now, you would have been._

_I won't give up though. I love you too much to give up._

_I decided to send Hedwig on the search for you. I'm going to tell her to search high and low for you and give you this letter._

_I know I won't gain much information if she comes back with or without the letter but if she comes back without it, and within a few days, at least I know you're alive, and fairly close as well._

_I still love you, Hermione._

_Please come back home._

_Love always,_

_Ron_

Hermione started to shake with fear and anger. How could Hedwig have possibly found her? It was impossible, and yet, it happened. Gripping onto the paper firmly, it became crumbled in her hand she groaned in frustration and laid her head down on the table in front of her.

"Hey, Ms. Granger?" asked Puck, causing Hermione to jump up from her seat. Puck jumped back slightly from the shock as well, unprepared for her to be as shocked as she was.

"Sorry! Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Hermione shook her head and looked back at the letter in her hand. She crumbled it and pushed it away slightly.

"It's okay," she whispered, before looking up at him.

"Shouldn't you be asleep? It's three in the morning."

Puck laughed slightly and shook his head. Moving to the table, he sat down in front of her.

"I couldn't sleep and I saw the light on and it sorta made me want to have a midnight snack or something," he said softly with a smirk. Slowly he shifted closer to Hermione. If he were really awake, he probably wouldn't have been as blunt about hitting on the young woman before him but he was groggy and tired, and he didn't care what happened.

Hermione raised a brow and shifted away from him slightly, nodding slowly.

"Uh huh, right. Well, I should go get back to bed," she said, standing slowly, as Puck took a hold of her hand.

"Wait, what were you doing up?" he asked.

"I was just reading an old letter."

"At three in the morning?" he asked, lazily.

"Yes," she said harshly, ripping her arm from his grip.

"All right. All right. Sorry I asked. Sheesh," he said leaning back in the plush chair. Hermione sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"No, no, no. It's fine. Don't worry. I'm just a little testy I suppose," Hermione looked down and shook her head again.

"I'm just going to go to bed and you should too."

As Hermione stood and started to walk towards her room, Puck quickly stood and followed her, turning her around once more.

"Wait, I have another question."

"What?"

"Why haven't you been coming to Glee rehearsals? It's been a month since I caught you." Hermione laughed softly, pushing some of her loose strands away from her face and shaking her head.

"I told you I'd think about it. Well, I'm still thinking about it." Hermione and Puck shared a smile.

"Come on, come to the next meeting. I promise, it'll be worth your while," said the smirking student.

"Oh really?" she whispered only to have Puck nod softly at her in response.

"Yeah, really."

"I'll think about it."

"Oh come on, Ms. Granger," he half begged to which she responded with a roll of eyes.

"All right, I'll be there." Puck smiled.

"Perfect."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i change pov's a few times in this chapter, fair warning. :)

Puck hoped against all hope that what he was trying to do would go off without a hitch. The assignment for the Glee club had been to find an English artist, select one of their songs, and perfect it. The dark-haired junior was pretty sure that the only reason this had been assigned such a task was because of Hermione coming from England to join them in America. He couldn't blame Mr. Schue for assigning what he did. The curly-haired man had a reputation for making special assignments for stupid reasons. The fact that he was repeating the assignment again was a little annoying but that wasn't something he could really help. At least this one could be somewhat beneficial for him. All he had to do was pick the perfect song. Unfortunately, the Brits didn't always make that the easiest thing in the world to do.

After quite a lot of research, he could only find two songs that were absolutely perfect for him and by the same artist as well. He knew he couldn't just repeat a song from over a year ago. Schue would tell him that he failed that week and that he actually didn't care about the assignment or some shit like that.

Standing off to the side of the choir room, he started to realize just how anxious he was. He hadn't been this nervous since the day he was going to sing 'Sweet Caroline' to Rachel and now he was basically doing the same thing, but to someone completely different. Was he even really singing to Ms. Granger? Could it be considered that? It wasn't exactly the most perfect song to sing to a girl but it was a British artist and he hoped one of her favorites. He would be singing it and paying attention to mostly her so how could she not know that it was for her?

His hands kept moving in and out of his jean pockets as he watched the clock and hoped for the brunette to walk through the door. A creak of the door brought the young mans head up from it's hung position as a slight smirk pulled onto his features. Mr. Schuester walked in with Hermione right on his tails. They spoke quickly, pointing to Puck, which really caught him off guard. The smug expression faded, as his eyes grew wide with confusion. What could they possibly be talking about that had to do with him?

_Holy shit, she's walking towards me… Why is she walking towards me? Did she finally decide to give into the sex shark? It'd be smart of her to do so._

A smirked at Hermione was she got closer to him and she returned with a smile, but instead of stopping to talk to him, she walked right past him and sat in a waiting chair. Puck scoffed and shook his head. Mr. Schue was telling her where to sit. They weren't talking about him. He shook his head, slightly relieved. He wasn't really ready to be a topic of their conversation just yet. Soon, very soon… Just not yet.

"You came," he said in a soft voice, the sense of surprise very delicately woven into the statement. The corner of her lip perked upwards as if she were smirking herself.

"I said I would."

Noah laughed and shrugged, his hands moving back in his pockets.

"You're right."

"I get that a lot," she said, a laugh in her voice which caused Puck's heart to speed up a little. A large hand moved to his chest in an attempt to slow it down. She wasn't supposed to do that to him. He just wanted to screw and that was it.

"This song is for you by the way," he said before he took the seat next to her, a smug expression moving across his face. His eyes darted over to Hermione to see her reaction and he was enjoying the fact that she had grown extremely red.

"All right everyone, my cousin, and your new librarian, Ms. Granger, will be sitting in on rehearsal today. Anyone have anything for the assignment before we move on?" Will asked. Puck quickly raised his hand.

"Uh, I do Mr. Schue," he said, standing and moving to the center of the room, turning on the spot and allowing his eyes to drift over to the curly-haired female in the corner.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

_Good going Hermione. Just make a spectacle of yourself for no reason. Brilliant work. How could he think singing that song could possibly make any girl think higher of him? What was he even trying to achieve to begin with? Seduction? That's a laugh. Bloody hell. Why did I come here? Why did I come here? Why did I come here?_

The constant self-berating didn't end quickly. Hermione continued to walk down the hall briskly, the anger of hearing such a degrading song, and knowing that it was dedicated to her threatening to boil over. All she wanted to do was hex the seventeen year old into a coma and run from the high school. Even if she had done that, she had a good feeling she'd find herself in front of the Ministry of Magic and on trial for what she would have done faster than it would have taken her to say the spell in the first place. Hermione needed to get out of the hallway. The longer she stayed there, the better chance she had of being found by someone she didn't want to see.

A girls bathroom quickly came into view and Hermione took the opportunity and ran inside, leaning against the wooden door thankfully. Her eyes fluttered closed, only to open when she heard the flushing of a toilet. Her heart quickened at the sight of red hair.

"Ginny?" she questioned quietly under her breath. Her head shook when she realized the ginger in front of her looked quite confused; a look very similar to a deer caught in the headlights.

"Excuse me?" the deer looking woman asked, her hands outstretched far in front of her. Hermione shook it away.

"I'm sorry, I, uh, I'm afraid I'm going a little mental," she offered, laughing without any real humor in her voice. The woman nodded, a smile pulling onto her face, quite confused on what was going on. As she moved to the sink to wash her hands in such a meticulous way that Hermione had never seen a human being do before, the woman looked over at her, assessing Hermione's presence.

"You look a little old to still be in high school, but I suppose that's normal. More and more kids are striving to look older and older at younger ages and I keep trying to tell the kids that they don't need to do that, but they don't seem to want to listen. Kids are very unwilling to listen to their elders at this age." Hermione nodded, listening intently.

"Are you Emma?" she asked, walking over to the woman who seemed very startled at the stranger's correct identification.

"Oh, oh. Why yes. Do I know you? I'm sorry if I do, you don't look familiar." Hermione allowed her expression to soften, as she shook her head, soft curls bouncing on her shoulders.

"No, no. You don't… I don't think. It depends if Will has said anything to you. I'm Hermione Granger, his cousin. I remember him saying you were the guidance counselor here and you seem to be speaking like a counselor would so I just put two and two together I suppose. Will speaks so much about you, and so highly of you as well," she gushed. Emma's face lit up at the idea that Will had spoken highly and often of her to someone in his own family.

"Oh! Oh, really? Well that's, wow!" Emma said, giggling. Hermione noticed her cheeks darken, which caused her to smile. It reminded her of Ron when he would blush.

 _Ron… Bloody hell! I didn't want to miss him! Quick, think of something else!_ Hermione's brain scanned its caverns for anything else that it could possibly think about and the only thing that took residence was Noah and his horrible choice of song to dedicate to Hermione.

"Are you feeling okay?" Emma asked and Hermione realized just how long she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings.

"I'm, well, it's, I," Hermione stuttered along. The situation she had placed herself in was so much more complicated than the one she had started out in.

"It's ridiculously complicated," she finally answered with a sigh. Emma nodded and placed a waved Hermione outside.

"Let's go have a talk." Without protest, the pair walked outside and began to walk towards the redhead's office in silence. Well, silence until an unneeded and slightly unwanted voice rang out.

"Ms. Granger!" Hermione growled softly at the sound of Noah's yell. The brunette turned to her new friend of sorts and gave her an apologetic look.

"One moment." Turning on her heel, she walked up to an approaching Noah. "What do you want?" she asked harshly.

"I want to apologize," he said instantly, his tone slightly standoffish.

"As you should. Dedicating An Easier Affair, that's a laugh!" she exclaimed a little louder than she had intended. Noah groaned angrily and proceeded to wipe his face as if trying to wipe away his mistake. At least, that's what Hermione saw. To her, it was a mistake. A big mistake.

He shook his head and turned back to her, a very apologetic look on his face.

"Please let me make this up to you," he whispered.

"Why should I?"

"Because your curiosity is nagging at you to find out just what it is I want to do to make it up to you," he replied, a very clear smirk pulling onto his tanned lips.

 _There is no way he could possibly know me that well yet,_ she thought. A scowl formed on her face, her lips pursing together, hard, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine." Noah's face lit up, a smile pulling his lips wide across his face.

"Awesome. Meet me in the auditorium in fifteen minutes." Without another word, he was gone. The witch brought her arms across her chest, shaking her head slowly.

"He's mental," she said softly. The brunette jumped slightly when a hand came to rest on her shoulder. Hermione turned around to find a very confused and shocked Emma behind her.

"Oh, Emma, I'm sorry for leaving you there. I didn't mean to."

"It's all right, Hermione. Do you need to talk?" Hermione shook her head.

"No, it's alright. I'll see you later though. I want to get to know the girl that my cousin is so hung up on," Hermione stated, a wide smile spreading across her face. Emma nodded furiously.

"Oh, oh, yes! Of course! Of course! Tomorrow maybe? After school?"

"Sounds like a plan.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Puck sat on the edge of the large stage, tapping the hard wood beneath him nervously. He had asked her to meet him in the large room a half hour ago. He didn't pin her as someone who would be late.

"God damn it. Fucking George Michael," he cursed under his breath.

"Are you going to sing, or are you going to curse all day?" Puck looked up in the direction of the very hot British voice. His smirk pulled wide across hid face when he finally found Hermione creeping out of a shadow that he had never knew a person could hide.

"How the fuck did you get up there?" he asked, standing on the stage.

"Magic," she teased, to which Puck allowed his dark brown eyes to roll around in his head.

"Yeah, right. How did you really get up there?"

"If this is your way of 'making it up to me' you're doing a right shit job of it," she said. Puck noticed how her body twitched just slightly when she said shit. He wasn't sure if it was because she cursed or because she cursed in front of him. He didn't really care for the reason. He still found it cute.

_Cute? Really? You have got to stop thinking like that. You're just trying to get under that skirt. You're just trying to get under that skirt!_

No matter how much Puck repeated this in his head, he was slowly starting to not believe it.

As Hermione leaned against the balcony railing, waiting for him to begin. A genuine smile slowly curled onto his face as he swung his guitar around his shoulders and began to sing. Puck knew that he was really starting to get into this whole Glee club thing because as he was singing, he closed his eyes and hadn't noticed the librarian leave the balcony and move towards him on the stage.

As he finished the song, he turned towards the smiling Hermione, who stood with her arms crossed over her chest. He took in her appearance as he sang the last line of the song. She was wearing a crimson blouse that had a flowing collar and a black pencil skirt; similar to the one he had seen her in the first day they had met. Once he finished, he swung the guitar off of his shoulder and smiled as she clapped.

"I'm impressed. Somebody to Love by George Michael. Certainly a step up from the last song." Puck smiled and took a step closer to her.

"You have no idea how hard it is to find a Jewish and British artist with a good song that isn't from a chick's point of view. I thought I was going to rip your hair out." Hermione's brow perked.

"You don't have much to begin with."

"Now you get how much it would suck," he said, taking another step closer to her. The brunette gave an uneasy look and took a small step away from him.

"Noah, what are you doing?" she asked. "I mean the song was lovely but, why?"

Did he want to admit it? Should he admit it? What would it really do if he did admit it and what would be the repercussion of doing so?

"You wouldn't believe me," he said, his expression turning suddenly serious. The slightest of smirks pulled onto her features as her head tilted off to the side.

"You'd be shocked what I believe," she retorted confidently. He snorted and shook his head. _What the hell._

"I think I like you." Hermione was taken aback from his admission.

"You fancy me?" she asked confused.

"Fancy? I'm not that weird. No, I just… Kinda like you. As more than a friend. In the way that I liked Rachel, or Quinn, or Santana, or Brittany, or Li—"

"You fancy me," she interrupted, putting her hand up to stop him from speaking. She sighed and shook her head.

"Noah, I'm sorry but, we can't do anything about your feelings," she said.

_She never said she didn't like me back. Does she like me? Holy shit! She does! She just doesn't want to admit it! Fuck yes! I'm so in._

"You like me too," he said, his infamous smirk reappearing on his dark features. Hermione shook her head, clearly disagreeing with him.

"No, Noah. I do—" Hermione never got a chance to finish her sentence. Puck eased himself towards her in the silky smooth way, and wrapped his arm around her waist, placing his lips against hers. The pair was locked in the embrace for a long moment and he was able to take note of the fact that she smelled faintly of vanilla and how her lips tasted faintly of cherry. He was also able to realize that she wasn't pushing him away. He was right. She did like him.

Unfortunately, she did quickly push him away, and promptly allowed her hand to move swiftly across his face.

"Fuck!" he yelled, holding his face where she hit him. Simply based on her slap, he would have hated to get actually hit by her.

"You've got one hell of an arm, what the fuck!" he yelled, rubbing his cheek.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking? You can't very well go around kissing people! Especially people who are in a position of authority over you and are a great deal older than you!" she spat, her face lighting up to a violent shade of scarlet that almost completely blended in with her top.

"I told you I liked you! I know you like me! It's what two people who like one another do! Are you that much of a prude or virgin to not know that?" he asked harshly. If Puck had actually thought through what he had said, he wouldn't have said what he did. Unfortunately, Puck found our just how out of line he actually was when Hermione slapped him hard across the face once more. Why she didn't just punch him was beyond his comprehension, but he decided not to question it.

"You have got to stop doing that!" he yelled.

"I have to stop doing that?" she asked. "Honestly? You truly believe that?" A soft scoff passed her lips as she shook her head.

"You're a moron."

Hermione turned on her heel and headed out of the auditorium, an angry cloud following behind her. Although, he could have sworn just before she turned around, she had placed her hand to her lips and smiled, feeling the last bit of his lips that still lingered on hers.

Puck wasn't sure if she had in fact done that, but it was a nice idea, one that he'd keep to himself.

"Well, that was a bust, mostly." He chuckled, smirking once more. "Cherries. Not bad. I'll still find a way to tap that though," he said to no one before going over to his guitar and picking it up, putting it back in its case.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah... i need to find inspiration for this chapter as well. forgive me?

It had become easy for Hermione to run. She started running at the age of eighteen and since then, it had become easier and easier with each time she ran. Granted, the first time she ran, she was with Ron and Harry but after that? She was on her own.

With the taste of Noah Puckerman still on her lips, the urge to run was growing higher and higher as each moment passed. Noah had grown to fancy her and it was quite obvious that he was going to do whatever he damn well pleased about it. Which, for Hermione, was very, very dangerous. She couldn't risk developing feelings for Noah in reciprocation, nor could she allow anything to happen when she was in a place of authority over him.

 _"That can be easily fixed,"_ the voice inside her head mentioned. Her hand swiftly smacked itself against her forehead in annoyance. Why would she say something like that to herself? It sounded mental.

The brunette stood outside of the school, her fingers showing just how nervous she was. Her head flipped up for a moment, and when it fell again, she froze. Did she just see ginger hair? She couldn't have. Hermione dared a peak up again and sighed deeply in relief that there was no red hair in the distance.

"I need to sleep," she whispered softly, only to jump in shock when a hand came onto her shoulder. Turning quickly, her hand darted to her waistband, only to realize that her wand wasn't on her person. Thankfully, it was only Will behind her who seemed just as shocked as she had been.

"Herms, it's just me. Are you okay?" Will asked, his eyes filling to the brim with concern for his younger cousin. The curly-haired woman nodded feverishly.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I ran into Emma and she said that you seemed pretty jumpy and uncomfortable… And after Puck's performance in Glee club today…"

"It's nothing, Will. Nothing."

"You can talk to me you know. About anything."

Hermione scoffed and shook her head.

"No, I can't. I couldn't tell you about the magic and I can't explain anything else. You don't get it and you never will." As soon as the words left her mouth, Hermione immediately regretted saying them. Her hand rested against her mouth, masking her gasp of shock from her own words.

"Will, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm just…"

"Don't," he started, putting his hand up to stop her. His hand dropped to his side and looked away from her.

"Let's just go home."

Hermione's head lowered as she followed Will towards his car, slipping into the proper side, for the first time in about three weeks, and silently buckled herself in.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

If one thing could be said about Noah Puckerman, it was that he was very persistent. He had been persistent when it came to being there for Quinn and his child, (even if it wasn't working too well in his favor at this moment+, he had been persistent when it came to being with Rachel, and he was going to be persistent with Hermione Granger. He knew, simply based on her kiss, that she was interested. She might have not wanted to admit it, but she was.

On his way home that day, Puck just wanted someone to talk to about all of this but whom do you go to when you want to bang your school librarian? Sadly, there was no one. His head lifted itself slowly as Puck walked inside his home only to find his mother in the kitchen, peeling potatoes.

_"I might not be able to ask exactly what I want to ask, but I can ask questions that could help in the long run. Ma is slow enough not to notice."_

"Hey, Ma. I'm home," he said, dropping his bag onto the couch, swinging his guitar case next to it. Walking into the kitchen, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek and leaned against the counter, his arms crossing over his chest as he watched the woman in front of him.

"How was school?" his mother asked.

"It was fine. Hey, Ma, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can. What's on your mind, Noah?" Since the fight, three nights earlier, Shira had gone back to her normal-loving-over-bearing-mother routine and at that moment, Puck couldn't have been happier.

"How do you impress a girl? Like, impress her in a way that she won't think you're a total creep?" A clatter of silver wear hit his ears before his mother's squeal and soon her lips on either side of his face.

"Oh, Noah! You've finally found a girl to be with! God has answered my prayers. It's a miracle! A miracle!" she gushed. Puck shifted around in her arms and pushed the woman away from him.

"Ma! Ma! Ma! Stop! I just want some advice! I don't want to get smothered!" he hollered, very happy when his mother finally backed away from him.

"Sorry, Noailah. Tell me about her!" his mother said, putting her elbows on the counter, resting her head in her hands.

"She's really smart, and really hot. And when I say smart I mean ridiculously smart. She's like a walking encyclopedia. I tried singing to her and it worked, for about a second. And I kissed her but she kind of, just, smacked me after." His face scrunched up in annoyance from the faint memory of Hermione's hand flying across his face. Twice.

She definitely had some spunk and he was pretty sure that that was the reason he just kept coming back.

"She's not an easy one is she?"

"Nope. Not in the slightest."

"What happened after you kissed her?" she asked after a long moment of thought.

"Slapped me. Twice."

"Are you sure she even likes you, Noah? I'm all for fighting for love but… You never know. She could have a boyfriend that you don't know about."

"I really like her, Ma," he said, his face contorting in a strange form of sadness. Could it be desperation? No. Puck was never desperate. Ever. Shira sighed and gave her son a sad look.

"You're a smart boy, Noah. Try getting to know her a little better before you try kissing her again. It might work better in your favor." Puck nodded, his head lowering in thought. It was going to be difficult to get to know Hermione when all she was doing was pushing him away, but he was damn sure he'd try.

"Thanks, Ma," he said, popping up and pressing his lips to his mother's cheeks lightly. As he walked back towards his room, he could faintly hear his mother saying something about hoping it would was a Jewish girl.

Puck didn't sleep that night. He just stayed up and thought of different ways he could talk to Hermione and get to know her better. He had never been so determined to get under a skirt before, but he was sure this would be worth it. After all, don't they say that the good ones are worth the wait?

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

The silence that filled the car she and Will were occupying was suffocating. Hermione could hardly stand that she had said something so horrible to her cousin that it made the car ride, that normally lasted exactly thirty-seven minutes, seem ten times longer than normal.

She thought she was going to explode, she needed to get out.

According to the letter that had been sent to her according to the Ministry of Magic, she had to keep her magic use to a minimum and to only be used in exclusively her family's presence. At that moment she didn't care if someone in another car noticed her, she had to get out.

"I'm sorry, Will. I can't be in here anymore. I'll meet you at home." Hermione didn't give Will a second glance or a chance to say anything to her before disapparating out of the car and into his apartment.

Finally, even within the confines of the flat she shared with her cousin, she could breathe a little easier. The brunette had been doubled over when she landed, barely paying attention to what she was doing and was thankful that she hadn't splinched at the same time. Her breath was ragged and she quickly stood up, making a move to open the window in the living room to get more air but she never made it there. In fact, she never made it past the spot she had landed in.

"Hermione," a relieved Ron said, a smile pulling onto his lips.

"R-R-Ron. You… You found me," she babbled out.


End file.
